Toronto Raptors Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Injury Notes: Barrett, Carter, Wallace, Herro, Jaquez

October 8th, 2024 at 12:55pm CST by Luke Adams

Raptors forward RJ Barrett will miss the rest of the preseason after being diagnosed with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder, the team announced on Tuesday in a press release. Barrett left Sunday’s game against Washington early after sustaining the injury.

As Michael Grange of Sportsnet and Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca note (via Twitter), while Barrett has only been ruled out for the preseason and will be reevaluated before opening night, it’s very possible he’ll miss some time at the start of the regular season as well.

It’s a disappointing setback for Barrett, who looked good on Sunday before getting hurt and was penciled in as Toronto’s starting small forward, and for the Raptors, who have been hit hard by the injury bug this fall. The team is also currently without Bruce Brown and rookie Ja’Kobe Walter — Brown is recovering from knee surgery, while Walter is dealing with a sprained AC joint of his own.

Here are a few more health-related updates from around the NBA:

After turning his left ankle during Monday’s preseason opener vs. New Orleans, Magic center Wendell Carter Jr. has been diagnosed with a sprain and is considered day-to-day, per Jason Beede of The Orlando Sentinel (Twitter links). The timing of Carter’s return will depend on how his ankle responds to treatment, Beede adds. Monday was still a good day for the big man, who signed a three-year, $58.7MM extension with Orlando before the game.
Thunder guard Cason Wallace sprained his ankle in Monday’s preseason opener against San Antonio, but the sprain is considered a mild one, according to Bally Sports Oklahoma sideline reporter Nick Gallo (Twitter link). It’s unclear if Wallace will be available for Wednesday’s game vs. Houston, but it doesn’t at this point as if his availability for the start of the season is in jeopardy.
Tyler Herro (right groin strain) and Jaime Jaquez (left groin strain) of the Heat didn’t participate in an intrasquad scrimmage on Monday, and Jaquez underwent an MRI on his injury, writes Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald. However, imaging on Jaquez didn’t reveal anything concerning, Chiang says, and Herro didn’t even get an MRI because his strain is considered mild. “Everybody can take a big breath. Everything is OK,” head coach Erik Spoelstra said, referring to Herro and Jaquez as day-to-day. “This is not a storyline about new protocols. This is just the appropriate thing right now. … I expect Tyler and Jaime to be back in full contact soon. But they’re already doing a lot of stuff.”

NBA GMs High On Thunder’s Offseason Moves, Celtics’ Title Chances

October 8th, 2024 at 9:40am CST by Luke Adams

The Thunder made the best roster moves during the 2024 offseason, according to the NBA’s general managers. Within his annual survey of the league’s top basketball decision-makers, John Schuhmann of NBA.com writes that 37% of his respondents picked Oklahoma City as having the best summer, with the Sixers coming in second place at 33%. The Knicks got 20% of the vote share, while no other club received more than a single vote.

It was one of many favorable outcomes in the survey for the Thunder, who were overwhelmingly selected as the team with the best young core — 60% of GMs selected OKC, compared to 20% for the second-place Magic.

New Thunder guard Alex Caruso was chosen by general managers as the most underrated offseason acquisition, receiving 23% of that vote share, while last year’s Most Valuable Player runner-up Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was picked as this year’s MVP favorite (40%), narrowly edging Mavericks star Luka Doncic (30%).

The Thunder also received a handful of votes from the league’s GMs as the team that will win the 2025 NBA Finals, but at 13%, they finished a distant second to the Celtics, who earned a whopping 83% of the vote. Besides those two clubs, only the Mavericks (3%) received a vote to become this season’s champions.

Here are a few more interesting results from Schuhmann’s GM survey, which is worth checking out in full:

New Sixers forward Paul George got 60% of the vote as the offseason acquisition who will have the biggest impact in 2024/25, followed by new Knicks Mikal Bridges and Karl-Anthony Towns at 13% apiece. The Towns trade, meanwhile, was named the most surprising offseason move, eking out George leaving Los Angeles for Philadelphia (27% to 23%).
Unsurprisingly, Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama was the overwhelming choice (77%) for which player the GMs would most want to start a franchise with. Gilgeous-Alexander and Nuggets center Nikola Jokic each earned three votes in that category, while Doncic got one.
The league’s general managers are high on No. 3 overall pick Reed Sheppard — the Rockets‘ guard is their pick to win the Rookie of the Year award (50%) ahead of betting favorite Zach Edey of the Grizzlies (30%). Sheppard also comfortably received the largest vote share (43%) when the GMs were asked which rookie will be the best player in five years. Spurs guard Stephon Castle (17%) and Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher (13%) were the runners-up in that category.
There was no consensus among the GMs on which 2024 draftee was the biggest steal. Wizards guard Carlton Carrington, Kings guard Devin Carter, Pacers wing Johnny Furphy, Lakers forward Dalton Knecht, Timberwolves guard Terrence Shannon, and Thunder guard Nikola Topic each received three votes to lead the way.
Among newly hired head coaches, Mike Budenholzer of the Suns is the one GMs feel will have the biggest impact on his new club. Budenholzer received 40% of the vote, beating out Kenny Atkinson of the Cavaliers and J.B. Bickerstaff of the Pistons (20% apiece). Meanwhile, Spurs guard Chris Paul (30%) and Raptors guard Garrett Temple (20%) are the active players that GMs feel would make the best head coaches down the road.
Asked what they’d change about the NBA, 20% of GMs said the rules related to the tax aprons, trades, and roster construction are too restrictive and/or should be “indexed to (a) team’s market,” per Schuhmann, making it the top response.

Atlantic Notes: Fernandez, Barrett, Shead, Sixers’ Wings

October 7th, 2024 at 10:55pm CST by Dana Gauruder

New Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez has established a rugged tone in training camp, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes.

“Probably one of the most unique, and hardest training camps I’ve been through in these 12 years now,” guard Dennis Schröder said. “Like it, though, so far. Everybody’s buying into it. Coach and coaches are doing a great job of keeping us organized and together. It’s been great.”

Forward Dorian Finney-Smith shared similar thoughts on the first week of camp.

“We’re going to be well-conditioned,” Finney-Smith said. “The people I talk to around the league, they all had great things to say about him, so I knew what to expect. I heard he was a hard worker and he’d want us to compete. That’s what he’s been asking us.”

We have more from the Atlantic Division:

RJ Barrett didn’t play in the second half of the Raptors’ preseason game against Washington on Sunday due to a bruised right shoulder, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet. Prior to the injury, Barrett scored 17 points in 14 minutes. He’ll be reevaluated early this week.
Second-round pick Jamal Shead showed off his defensive skills in the same game. He matched up against fellow rookie Carlton Carrington, who missed all six of his shots and committed three turnovers. “Me and him have a little bit of a history, he got the best of me in a pre-draft workout,” Shead told Grange. “So I had to come out and make it as hard as possible … he’s going to be really good, but I had to give him a taste of NBA-ready defense.”
The Sixers have a lot of versatility, especially at the wing spots, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer notes. They are projected to start three wing players in Paul George, Caleb Martin, and Kelly Oubre. They also have options coming off the bench in Eric Gordon, Ricky Council IV, and KJ Martin. “I like to be super versatile, and you got to be able to shift people all over the place,” coach Nick Nurse said. “We do have a lot more in the middle that we can shift around.”

Raptors Notes: Barnes, Bench, Dick, Carton, Agbaji

October 6th, 2024 at 6:58pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Raptors star forward Scottie Barnes rejoined the team in Montreal on Saturday, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet tweets. He didn’t suit up for their exhibition game against the Wizards on Sunday because they didn’t want to rush him back into action. Barnes, who signed a five-year, maximum-salary extension this offseason, missed most of training camp this week while he attended to a personal matter.

We have more on the Raptors:

Expect coach Darko Rajakovic to mix and match and use his bench quite often this season, Eric Koreen of The Athletic writes. “I think this season, we don’t have a cemented (starting) five. Off the bench, I think pretty much all the roster, going from five to 15, those guys are talented and great players and they’re competing for minutes,” Rajaković said. “They’re competing for a spot. So I can see us being this year much more fluid, and I’m going to be much more experimenting and giving guys opportunities in games just to see their growth and how they can affect the game.”
By almost default, Gradey Dick will likely be in the starting five at the beginning of the regular season, Koreen adds in the same story. The other logical options, Bruce Brown and first-round pick Ja’Kobe Walter, are not participating in training camp due to injuries. Dick is the only other player who can space the floor adequately for Barnes and Immanuel Quickley, Koreen notes.
Two-way player D.J. Carton and third-year wing Ochai Agbaji stood out Friday night when the Raptors held an open scrimmage at McGill University, according to Michael Grange of Sportnet. Agbaji was acquired from Utah at last season’s trade deadline and started 18 of 27 games after the deal. “The opportunity and the amount of opportunity that’s out there, you can feel it,” he said. “And obviously everyone that’s going in here and going 110 per cent, it’s just making everybody better.” The Raptors have until Oct. 31 to decide whether to pick up Agbaji’s $6,383,525 option for the 2025/26 season.

Eastern Notes: Stewart, Raptors, Dick, Lillard, Martin

October 4th, 2024 at 11:15pm CST by Luke Adams

The Pistons‘ usage of Isaiah Stewart in recent years – and the players they’ve put around him – reflected the fact that they viewed him as a power forward rather than a center. Detroit used a lottery pick on center Jalen Duren in 2022 and encouraged Stewart to shoot more from outside. While the big man has gamely accepted that role, making a career-best 1.5 three-pointers per game last season on 38.3% shooting, he couldn’t hide his enthusiasm this week about playing more at the five, his preferred position, writes Omari Sankofa II of The Detroit Free Press.

“(New head coach) J.B. (Bickerstaff) loves my physicality and me playing strong down low, like in my early years in the league with my offensive rebounding and stuff like that,” Stewart said. “I spent a lot of time this offseason at the five and I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to getting back down in the paint, banging and doing what I do because at the end of the day, that’s what I love to do. That’s who I am.

“Playing the four, that was something that I had to work on and add to my game because I was being asked of it. Now I’m happy I get to play some five.”

As Sankofa explains, there are a few factors contributing to the Pistons’ desire to have Stewart spend more time at center this season. The arrival of power forward Tobias Harris is one. Stewart also has the ability to make more of an impact as a rebounder and rim protector if he’s spending more time in the paint.

As excited as he is about spending more time at center, the 23-year-old stressed that he’s willing to play wherever the team needs him.

“I don’t mind at all playing the four, because it’s something I can do,” Stewart said. “I can knock down the 3-point shot, I can space the floor, but we all know it’s something that’s new to me. … The four, it ain’t nothing wrong with it. But me, I love to bang. I love to be physical. I love to set the tone. I love to set great screens for my teammates. I like playing the five. But I don’t mind at all playing the four. I can do both.”

Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:

While Bruce Brown would’ve been an option to start at shooting guard for the Raptors if he were healthy, Michael Grange of Sportsnet views second-year sharpshooter Gradey Dick as the most logical candidate for that spot. As Grange outlines, besides looking like a good fit for spacing purposes, Dick is Toronto’s most recent lottery pick and has the potential to raise the club’s long-term ceiling if he develops into a reliable starter.
In interviews with Alex Squadron of SLAM and Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports, Bucks point guard Damian Lillard spoke about why he’s optimistic about the upcoming season in Milwaukee after going through what he called the “toughest year of my life” on both a personal and professional level last season. “I think a lot of times people talk about revenge seasons, it’s like they’re going out for blood with everybody else,” Lillard told Rohlin. “But I think it’s the revenge of something I need to go take back for me, not for anybody else. I know what went into last season. And I know what goes into me being my best. That’s all I’m focusing on.”
Hornets forward Cody Martin sustained a laceration on his thumb and sprained his right wrist while attempting to block a shot at the rim in training camp, the team announced today (via Twitter). It doesn’t sound like either injury is considered serious – he’s listed as day-to-day – but Martin has been ruled out of Charlotte’s preseason opener.

Eight Teams Who Could Emulate Hornets As Trade Facilitators

October 4th, 2024 at 9:10pm CST by Luke Adams

The new rules in place this season for NBA teams operating above either tax apron dictate that those clubs are prohibited - in most cases - from taking back more salary than they send out in a trade.

That restriction will make it difficult for two teams operating above the apron to make a trade with one another, but the Knicks and Timberwolves provided a blueprint with this week's Karl-Anthony Towns blockbuster for one way it can happen -- find a third team to take on some extra salary.

In the Towns trade, the Hornets acquired approximately $6.8MM in salary from the Knicks without trading away any themselves, which allowed both Minnesota and New York to send out more salary than they took back in the deal. Charlotte received three second-round picks - two from the Knicks and one from the Wolves - for their troubles.

That's not the only way for two apron teams to trade with one another, but it's the most straightforward path, particularly in bigger deals like the Towns one. With that in mind, it's worth considering which teams around the NBA are the best candidates to be the next Hornets, acting as facilitators in deals involving two clubs facing apron-related restrictions.

There are essentially three characteristics that make a team an ideal candidate to be a third-party facilitator in this sort of trade:

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Raptors Notes: Boucher, Barrett, Quickley, Dick

October 3rd, 2024 at 10:54pm CST by Earnest Marshall

Chris Boucher is entering his seventh season with the Raptors at age 32, and his long tenure with the team is a testament to his skill and professionalism. He entered his stint with the Raptors on an Exhibit 10 deal, battling it out for a two-way contract. He was with Toronto for the club’s 2019 championship and has since fluctuated between being a sixth man, key rotation piece, and veteran mentor.

However, his 14.1 minutes per game last season represented his lowest mark since the 2019/20 season. He received 15 DNP-CDs and wasn’t happy about the lack of minutes, according to Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.

“When you’ve got a career or you played a lot of years, you get kind of lost in how many minutes you’re playing and all and you forget about a lot of little things,” Boucher said. “I did a lot of that in the summer, work on that just to make sure my mind’s at the right place to start the year.”

However, Grange emphasizes that Boucher’s relationship with coach Darko Rajakovic is in a good place, despite the lack of minutes.

“Coach is doing a really good job to teach me the game and make me a better leader, a better vet,” Boucher said. “I think that’s something I needed a lot to work on and this summer, I took a lot of time for that.”

We have more from the Raptors:

RJ Barrett‘s transition to Toronto last season after being acquired in exchange for OG Anunoby went about as well as it could have. He averaged 21.8 points, 6.4 rebounds and 4.1 assists while shooting 55.3% from the field, all of which would have been career highs over the course of a full season. Despite his impressive offensive season, Barrett recognizes he has a ways to go on the defensive side of the ball, Grange writes in another piece. “If you want to win, it starts with defense,” Barrett said. “And I’ve been practicing it, working on it, especially during the summertime. That was huge for me to just get reps defensively, and now just keep working on it. Every day, you know, coaching, drills, playing, keep that mindset of defending and keep going that way.“
Immanuel Quickley has been spotted sporting a brace on his wrist after practice. According to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet, this is mostly precautionary after Quickley suffered a sprained thumb at a workout leading up to training camp. He has been participating in non-contact portions of training camp and is not expected to miss any time in the regular season due to the injury.
Second-year wing Gradey Dick looks to have bulked up this offseason, Murphy notes in the same piece. Adding strength was a part of Dick’s offseason planning and he’s officially listed as eight pounds heavier than he was last season. Dick was 205 pounds last year at 6’6″ and averaged 8.5 points per game while shooting 36.5% from three.

Raptors Notes: Rebuild, Ujiri, Rogers, Barnes, Walter

October 1st, 2024 at 5:29pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Many NBA executives won’t admit their team is in rebuild mode. Not Raptors president Masai Ujiri. He stated the obvious at Raptors media day.

“I would use the word rebuilding. That’s the right word,” Ujiri said, per Michael Grange of Sportsnet. “I think we have a clear path now going forward. … I think we set a path (when) we went into the draft last year and got a couple of young players and we want to continue to grow and build this team around Scottie (Barnes), who is 23 years old. … So, yes, in sports, you always want to be competitive, and you play to win. We’re going to play to win. But it is a rebuilding team. I think everybody sees that loud and clear.”

Even players like Jakob Poeltl know that the franchise is looking toward the future, rather than the upcoming season.

“We’re all aware of the situation. We had a massive change in the team since the middle of last season. So we know that we’re starting somewhere in the beginning,” Poeltl said. “We’re definitely capable of winning some games (but) I know that’s not the main focus for us … this has to be a long-term project. I think we all know, we’re not going to go attack the championship this year. It makes no sense for us to try to win every single game as much as we can and sacrifice development in terms of that.”

We have more on the Raptors:

Speaking of Barnes, he’s currently not with the team, but Toronto fans can relax. He’s attending to a personal matter and will rejoin the team later this week, Blake Murphy of Sportsnet tweets.
Rogers Communications chairperson Edward Rogers, whose company is assuming majority control of the Raptors, reportedly opposed Ujiri’s five-year contract in 2021, but Ujiri said any tension between him and Rogers has long since vanished, according to The Athletic’s Eric Koreen. “Every time something comes up: (MLSE doesn’t bid for a team in the) WNBA, ‘Whoa, it’s Masai versus Edward.’ Any small thing that comes — clear that,” Ujiri said. “There’s nothing. There’s zero. Zero going on. OK? They’ve treated me well. I will keep going like that till we (cannot). For me, that’s my job. Guess what: I know I’m going to be judged on the way I do this job. And that’s that’s the way we’re going to be judged — on what happens on the basketball court.”
First-round pick Ja’Kobe Walter provided a positive update on his right shoulder sprain that he suffered in September, according to Murphy. “I get out of the sling (Tuesday), and then I’ll start my rehab, work on my movement stuff. So I should be back pretty soon,” he said. “Probably won’t be doing anything on-court for this next week-and-a-half, for sure. But still, I’ll be doing my strength and mobility work during that time. I should probably be back in, like, three weeks.” Walter said he’ll try to use training camp as a learning experience. “I can look at it a different way. I can work on my left hand. I can watch a lot more film,” he said. “I can still learn in a lot of different ways, and get better, that they’re not doing while they’re training, I can still be doing something else that they’re not doing.”

And-Ones: NBAGL Trades, Extension Candidates, Woj’s Replacement, More

October 1st, 2024 at 9:29am CST by Luke Adams

Toronto’s G League affiliate – the Raptors 905 – has made a pair of trades in recent days, including a four-team deal that sent Kennedy Chandler‘s returning rights to the 905, according to Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). As we noted recently when the NBA’s Raptors signed and waived Chandler, their G League team still needed to acquire the guard’s rights in order to get him on the 905’s roster this fall.

That four-team trade also saw the Long Island Nets acquire Au’Diese Toney‘s returning rights and a 2025 first-round pick, the Birmingham Squadron (Pelicans) acquire Trhae Mitchell‘s returning rights, and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers (Rockets) land the rights to Devin Cannady and Markquis Nowell along with a 2024 first-round pick.

In the 905’s other trade, the Raptors’ affiliate sent Koby McEwen‘s returning rights to the Windy City Bulls in exchange for Evan Gilyard‘s rights, tweets Murphy.

Fred Katz of The Athletic identifies five of the most interesting extension-eligible veterans to keep an eye on this fall, singling out Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon, Grizzlies big man Jaren Jackson Jr., and Mavericks center Daniel Gafford, among others.
Who are the candidates to replace Adrian Wojnarowski as ESPN’s top NBA insider? According to reporting from Andrew Marchand of The Athletic and Michael McCarthy of Front Office Sports, while big-name NBA reporters like Shams Charania and Chris Haynes are possibilities, it’s also not out of the question that one of ESPN’s other top news-breakers, such as Jeff Passan or Adam Schefter, could end up in the role. Marchand says Passan is a candidate to switch from MLB to the NBA, while McCarthy suggests it’s not out of the question for Schefter to take on a dual role covering the NFL and NBA.
In an in-depth Insider-only article for ESPN, Bobby Marks takes a look at all 30 teams’ training camp rosters and examines the key dates and deadlines coming up for each of those clubs.
Taking into account their projected regular season win totals, John Hollinger of The Athletic picks five teams he expects to exceed expectations in 2024/25, including the Cavaliers, Suns, and Pistons.

Raptors Notes: Brown, Barrett, Barnes, Walter, Chomche

September 30th, 2024 at 11:13am CST by Arthur Hill

Speaking to reporters at Monday’s media day, Raptors executive Masai Ujiri explained the decision to have Bruce Brown undergo arthroscopic surgery so late in the offseason, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Brown had the procedure done September 19 and is likely to miss most, if not all of the preseason.

“Bruce was cleared in the summer,” Ujiri said. “As he began to ramp up his knee flared up … all summer Bruce was good, he participated with the team (in off-season workouts). But when it flared up we made the decision collectively.”

Brown’s knee issues date back to last season, but he was hoping they would improve through a summer of rest and rehab. Brown has an expiring $23MM contract and could be a valuable trade piece by the deadline if the Raptors aren’t able to contend for a play-in spot.

There’s more from Toronto’s media day:

Head coach Darko Rajakovic is looking forward to a full training camp with RJ Barrett, who was acquired from New York last December, Grange adds (Twitter links). Rajakovic said Barrett adjusted to his new team very quickly after the deal, and the forward told reporters that he was eager to get back to his NBA responsibilities after Canada was knocked out of the Olympics. “Right after we lost, I was on the bus back to the hotel and called (Raptors assistant) Jama (Mahlalela) and got it figured out,” Barrett said. “… This is the Raptors, this my team, my home, I wanted to be there with my teammates. … I wanted to show that I’m all in.”
Scottie Barnes has been focused on improving his shot creation skills throughout the summer, according to Grange (Twitter link). Barnes added that individual accomplishments are a byproduct of winning and said he’s willing to be patient as the team rebuilds. “Taking our time, don’t get frustrated throughout that process,” he said. “Of course we want to win and we know we can win, but it takes time, so don’t get frustrated through the process.”
Rookie Ja’Kobe Walter will miss training camp with a shoulder sprain, but Ujiri doesn’t expect it to be a lingering issue, per Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports (Twitter link).
Ujiri also expressed excitement about rookie center Ulrich Chomche, who signed a two-way contract after being selected with the 57th pick in the draft, relays Blake Murphy of Sportsnet (Twitter link).“Very intriguing young player,” Ujiri said. “I remember watching him the first time at BAL, he showed incredible instinct defensively. Also work ethic, playing hard, that mindset. Those Cameroonian guys, they fight hard, it’s pride for them.”